NEWS: John Cena Mentions the Unmentionable

NEWS: It was ten years ago that Chris Benoit did the unthinkable, murdering his wife Nancy "Woman" Benoit and their 7 year old son Daniel. The scandal rocked the professional wrestling world as people tried to make sense of such madness while the mainstream media blamed steroids. Since that time the WWE has not uttered the words "Chris Benoit," even going as far as to remove Benoit, arguably one of the greatest in-ring competitors in history, from their official history even deleting his matches from the WWE Network. John Cena was asked about the WWE's reluctance to talk about Benoit during his An Evening with John Cena show in Australia and had the following to say,

"Very difficult question, and I’ll answer it like this. Often times, we get caught up in a person’s ability and their performance – and this transcends WWE – this is a problem in sport. It is also a problem in entertainment. People will do bad things. But if they are good at what they do, sometimes those things are overlooked. I don’t in believe that. I believe you should take ownership for your actions. All of them. Not just ones that are performed in front of an audience. I think our company’s stance on the entire situation set a precedent for athletics, and a precedent for entertaining of taking ownership for your actions.”

While Benoit's actions were indeed heinous and do deserve scorn and condemnation, it is also noteworthy that his own autopsy revealed extensive damage to his brain. Benoit, in fact, had such extensive brain damage (from numerous in-ring concussions over the course of a 22 year wrestling career) that experts believe he had the mental capacity and reasoning skills of a 70 year old with dementia. We have come a long way in understanding concussions and brain damage in the 10 years since the Benoit tragedy. Perhaps it's time for the WWE to begin an open and honest discussion about the dangers of repeated and untreated injuries to the head. While personal accountability is important, so is a grasp on science and truth. Chris Jericho, who was close to Benoit, felt that the last moments of his friend's life could only be explained as a form of "demonic possession." Ten years later we now know that repeated and untreated damage from concussions (not demons) were what prompted Benoit to act so inhumanely. No amount of personal accountability could have stopped Benoit from such poor reasoning as he was incapable of making healthy choices for himself or his own family. He was, in the last days of his life, a deranged child with a ruthless capability to murder. There is plenty of blame to go around, especially when his own employer (the WWE) failed to notice the signs of an individual with such diminished mental capacity. Benoit was scheduled to wrestle the same night he took his own life, after taking the lives of his own wife and son. Video of Cena's remarks appears below.